U21. Oleksandriya vs Shakhtar: Pitmen’s comments
Saturday, November 5, 2016
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Footballers of the Donetsk team shared their impressions of the game against Oleksandriya
Oleh Kudryk, Shakhtar goalkeeper:
- We really wanted to win today, although we understood that we were facing a combative encounter, so we were tuning in for that. There were numerous challenges and just little fluid football, because the heavy field did not allow us to showcase pace and technique. In the first half we tried to operate in a diverse manner, launch dangerous attacking moves and managed to score. In the second half, the coaches instructed us to play strictly and simply in defence, not to invent anything and just keep a clean sheet. As a result, our defensive performance was secure, with the opponents having next to no chances: little threat came only from set pieces and counterattacks. Most importantly, we won and got three points. Now we should work hard and win the remaining four games.
- We really wanted to win today, although we understood that we were facing a combative encounter, so we were tuning in for that. There were numerous challenges and just little fluid football, because the heavy field did not allow us to showcase pace and technique. In the first half we tried to operate in a diverse manner, launch dangerous attacking moves and managed to score. In the second half, the coaches instructed us to play strictly and simply in defence, not to invent anything and just keep a clean sheet. As a result, our defensive performance was secure, with the opponents having next to no chances: little threat came only from set pieces and counterattacks. Most importantly, we won and got three points. Now we should work hard and win the remaining four games.
From the off, Oleksandriya dropped deep down their half of the field, with us having virtually no free spaces. We had to control the ball for long and continuously look for ways to approach the opposing goal
Oleksii Zinkevych, Shakhtar U21 midfielder:
- From the off, Oleksandriya dropped deep down their half of the field, with us having virtually no free spaces. We had to control the ball for long and continuously look for ways to approach the opposing goal. It’s good that halfway through the half, Makyta Adamenko managed to score as it lifted the psychological pressure off the team, and it got a little easier for us. We expected that in the second half the hosts would want to reverse it and charge forward, but they continued to operate defensively hoping to counter. We had chances to excel through scoring, but it didn’t work. By the end of the match, we got fatigued, so it was difficult to keep the same pace. But we have achieved a positive result and we continue moving towards our goal, which is winning the league title.
- From the off, Oleksandriya dropped deep down their half of the field, with us having virtually no free spaces. We had to control the ball for long and continuously look for ways to approach the opposing goal. It’s good that halfway through the half, Makyta Adamenko managed to score as it lifted the psychological pressure off the team, and it got a little easier for us. We expected that in the second half the hosts would want to reverse it and charge forward, but they continued to operate defensively hoping to counter. We had chances to excel through scoring, but it didn’t work. By the end of the match, we got fatigued, so it was difficult to keep the same pace. But we have achieved a positive result and we continue moving towards our goal, which is winning the league title.